"The old lady said that she worked as a nanny in a wealthy family when she was young!"

I'm too old to work anymore, so I'll go back to my son's house to live out my retirement...

But her wife doesn't feed her enough and always beats her..."

As she spoke, she saw that Qin Xuelian had brought over a bowl of porridge and half a salted egg, so she stopped talking.

Qi Zhao arrived early in the morning, having indeed not eaten. Seeing the very thick and sticky eight-treasure porridge, he couldn't help but feel a surge of appetite.

Qin Xuelian then offered her a jar of white sugar, trying to ingratiate herself: "Want some sugar?"

Adding a little sugar to eight-treasure porridge is Qi Zhao's favorite way to eat it.

Qi Zhao nodded immediately: "Two spoonfuls... Okay, that's enough!"

The thick, sticky porridge, paired with the still-sweet sugar that hadn't completely melted, and the slightly scalding heat when it entered his mouth, brought Qi Zhao, who had been feeling a bit stiff from the cold, back to life.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "Mmm, delicious!"

As she spoke, she picked up the steamed bun in front of Xia Tianxiu and took a bite.

He picked up a little bit of pickled vegetables and put it in his mouth.

My eyes lit up – the pickled vegetables were crisp, tender, and slightly spicy, making them perfect with rice.

Qi Zhao asked Qin Xuelian, "Auntie, where are you from? Where did you used to live?"

Qin Xuelian had already prepared a set of answers with Xia Tianxiu, and she answered fluently at this moment.

After questioning him for a while, Qi Zhao felt relieved.

In his opinion, the old lady was already over 60 years old, and she spoke and acted like a pitiful person. Moreover, she cooked so well, so she really didn't seem like a bad person who came to harm Yue'er.

Qi Zhao had an idea:

"Grandma, how about we hire you as our caregiver?"

You don't need to do anything else, just take care of my niece's meals three times a day.

The rest is just some simple cleaning and sweeping work!

Most of the doors in our yard are locked, and only a few rooms are open. We just need to sweep the yard once a day!

I'll give you... five yuan a month, how about that?

Qin Xuelian pretended to be very surprised and raised her head. Suddenly, she came to Qi Zhao and knelt down on the ground with her knees buckling: "My sir! My benefactor! I kowtow to you!"

This made Qi Zhao quite embarrassed, and he quickly helped her up: "Auntie, what are you doing? By the way, Auntie, what's your surname? How should I address you?"

Qin Xuelian said in a low voice, "My surname is Qin."

“Aunt Qin, let’s do this—we’ll get paid on the first of every month, and you’ll be paid for the number of days you worked that month. And—I can give you an advance on the purchases…”

Qi Zhao made the arrangements, which he considered to be very appropriate.

He had always felt uneasy about Xia Tianxiu living alone in the Qi family's old house, always feeling that bad people would jump over the wall in the middle of the night and do something bad to Xia Tianxiu.

He even had several such nightmares.

With this elderly lady coming and going, the safety of the two of them living together is naturally much greater.

Qi Zhao then said to Xia Tianxiu, "Yue'er, I have something to tell you, but please don't be angry—I might not be able to come before the New Year." "Ah? Uncle, where are you going?"

"Sigh, didn't Grandpa introduce me to someone? We've been dating casually for about six months now, and this Chinese New Year, Grandpa insisted that I go to her hometown to meet her grandparents—her grandfather was my grandfather's comrade-in-arms. We're leaving tomorrow..."

The group finished their breakfast while chatting.

Qin Xuelian, with a shrewd expression and keen observation, cleared the plates and took them to the kitchen.

Qi Zhao closed the door, took out 50 yuan, and handed it to Xia Tianxiu: "Yue'er, take this money!"

Xia Tianxiu quickly backed away with her hands behind her back: "No! Uncle, you've already given me a lot of money, I have money!"

"You can keep your money, but this is money for the New Year, take it!"

Let Old Mrs. Qin buy some New Year's goods, and you should also get two new outfits made!

The little girl needs to dress up nicely!

We had a lively and festive New Year, huh?

Even though there aren't many people, we still need to make it lively, you know?

Xia Tianxiu blushed, but still hesitated to accept the money.

Qi Zhao sighed, stuffed the money into her pocket, patted her shoulder, and left.

Qi Zhao left, and Xia Tianxiu's tense nerves finally relaxed.

She became increasingly kind to Qin Xuelian, while constantly questioning her about her condition: "Old lady, have you never had any other children in your life?"

“Not a single one!” Qin Xuelian sighed. “That’s why I said I risked my life to give birth to you. I had a difficult labor when I gave birth to you. Your father called the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department of the People’s Hospital to my rented house to deliver the baby! After you were born, they removed my uterus! Where am I supposed to give birth to another baby?”

"Oh, I see. So you didn't remarry?"

"I can't even have children anymore, who would want me?" Qin Xuelian wiped away her tears, clearly heartbroken. "It's not that no one wants to marry me, but things just don't work out. Maybe I'm just destined to be alone forever!"

"Grandma, don't be sad! I'm going to get some new clothes made. Would you like to get one made too?" Xia Tianxiu asked seemingly casually.

"Me too?" Qin Xuelian exclaimed excitedly. "Xiuer, are you going to make new clothes for Mom?"

"Don't keep calling me that! I told you not to call me that!" Xia Tianxiu's face darkened. "You go in and out of the Qi family's old house wearing that tattered, patched cotton-padded coat. Don't you want to be a laughingstock among the neighbors? You may not care about your reputation, but I do!"

"Xiuer, you just have such a sharp tongue!" Qin Xuelian said happily. "I know you love your mother! Oh no, you love this old lady!"

The two went out on the street, and Xia Tianxiu indeed secretly took Qin Xuelian to a tailor to make a new outfit.

I also bought her a pair of cotton shoes at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Qin Xuelian put on her new cloth shoes, her eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing that she had finally relaxed her guard, Xia Tianxiu led her towards People's Park: "You said it's your first time in Beijing, so you must have never been to this ice rink before!"

Qin Xuelian followed Su Ruyi through the bustling ice rink, only to find Xia Tianxiu leading her toward a section of ice where fewer and fewer people were.

She asked loudly, somewhat puzzled, "Xiuer, what are you taking me to do?"

Xia Tianxiu turned around, frowned, and said, "What are you shouting for? See that pavilion over there? There's a free area past that pavilion!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Xuelian no longer suspected anything and followed Xia Tianxiu forward.

Xia Tianxiu whispered again, "The ice sleds over there are also free to ride! Although they're old and outdated, they're only a bit worn out! Don't you want to ride them? I'll push you!"

After spending these days together, Xia Tianxiu had figured out what kind of person Qin Xuelian was—if you gave her 50 cents to buy vegetables, she would embezzle 45 cents.

So, upon hearing that there were free ice sleds to ride, Qin Xuelian quickly quickened her pace!